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Hi all

Having followed these threads for some months, and done a LOT of reading, yesterday I received my SL88 GT Mk2 off Andertons pre-order in the UK (after a month’s delay due to supply chain issues). I spent 4 hours with it last night. I will leave really in-depth reviews to those more qualified (!) but I thought taking the plunge to sign up and share initial reflections would be a helpful way of paying back those who had helpfully guided my research on this and other forums (where I’ll probably cross-post this)

Ingoing context: like a few posters, I was interested in the highest-quality possible weighted controller to hook up to the likes of pianoteq, garritan, etc. My use cases are with Logic in the studio and with MBP/iPad + Mainstage on gigs and shows, 95% of the time for piano (almost never patch changing), for a wide variety of repertoire from classical solos to jazz trio work to accompanying musical theatre vocalists. I wanted the money going towards the keybed (not inbuilt DP sounds, any “furniture-style” form factor, etc.). I was willing to compromise on weight if necessary, but ideally would see my days of lugging a stage piano around behind me, if possible. Along the way I considered and tested the RM3II in the VPC1, GF in the MP11SE, and some Roland PHA50 boards. No Nords. I was obviously unable to test the SL88 GT Mk2 until now.

The revised TP400/W delivers. As reported, it’s “buttery smooth”. I’m easily able to register velocities down to 2 or 3, with 0s possible. Out of the box there is an almost perfect linear response – which can be customised from there if you’re happy to tinker. I find the factory grading particularly good for A0-A2. As found in the Numa X GT, the ability to customise individual note sensitivity via the board itself is helpful (saves need for messing about in Pianoteq Pro, for example). The white/black key balance can also be changed (as I believe was talked about in DavidB’s excellent YT video comparing the TP400/W in the Numa X to the PHA50). I haven’t measured dynamic or static keyweights but already have been able to compensate for the folded action such that black keys now approximate my acoustic grand.

Nitpicks / personal preferences: the removal of the escapement I find an improvement, but the bottom sensors could be better placed. They struggled with extremely fast repetitions when I threw a Chopin Ballade at them, but 99% of the time this wouldn’t be a problem, and even without the physical sensation in the key travel, playing off the jack is still possible (fairly consistently) if needed. Playing close to the fallboard I suspect will never feel 100% like an acoustic, but this feels like a physical limitation of almost any unfolded action? I’ve not missed ivory feel so far. I don’t use aftertouch so no comment there. The buttons and switches feel quite cheap, the joysticks are flimsy (however I will almost never use these), and the centrally-placed screen/buttons are a bit of a pain for my particular setup. I haven’t seen confirmation yet whether the magnetic music stand / laptop stand for the previous generation SLs work with this but might buy them and give it a shot.

Extra bonus is the inbuilt DAC. On a gig, this means one decent quality cable into the iPad or MBP (not yet tested in field) for power and sound from pianoteq (I’ve not yet tested Numa Player) then audio out from the board. Very neat.

My old Roland DP10 and Yamaha FC3A pedals are, predictably, inverted - just like they were on my Arturia KeyLab. Fixable in the DAW but guess I’m in market for a triple pedal – and open to the hivemind for recos. Studiologic make the SLP3-D and this has its own pre-programmed jack on the SL88 GT Mk 2, but I have read mixed things.

In sum – for folded actions at this price point (this cost me 750 GBP including shipping) I can’t see anything close. It plays like a £2k+ board, for half the cost and half the weight. If like me you’re happy to tinker with VSTs, hook it up, and you’ll be away. Time will tell if it truly becomes the nail in the coffin for the VPC1 some have hailed it to be – and what the longevity (especially the key guides) is like - but I’m very happy so far. Hope this is helpful and look forward to others’ reflections!

I was happily surprised to see that Pianoteq standalone can also reverse the pedal, by swapping 0 and 1 values in the midi mappings. So I don't need to run a DAW just for that.

Thanks for the hands-on report. Sounds like it a pretty good unit. As everything has its compromises this seems like it will be a good choice for a lot of people.

Thanks for this!

Nice review thanks!

thank you for the report. Two comments though :

I am surprised you can trigger notes with velocity 0 as, in Midi standard a Note-on with velocity =0 is not interpreted as as Note-on event but as a Note -Off event. Very often in internal sound banks of good DPs or good VST's velocity =1 which is the minimal value for note-on events is considered as a silent note, which is used when you want to trigger partial harmonics via sympathetic resonance .

Also , you seem to think that folded actions are inferior to non folded actions and there is no physical evidence of that . How it feels, for a given keyboard, to play close to the fallboard compared to playing near the heart of the keys solely depends on the pivot length. The physic laws governing non folded vs folded actions are identical.

I'm not sure how it works on the new SLMK2 controller, but the Numa X piano GT cannot produce a midi value of 0. It can do silent notes at 1, and it has variable note off velocities.

God bless,
David

indeed this is the standard behaviour that one expect from a midi controller.

I want to buy SL73 mk2. I'm interested in the quality of the audio interface. I want used it on a windows so I have question about latency. Is there proper ASIO driver for windows? Does the audio interface provide a quality, strong audio signal or is a DI box required before connecting to PA?
At home i use a Kawai VPC1 with Apollo Twin DUO and Focusrite Scarlett solo (3rd gen). VPC1 it's too heavy controller, so I plan to get the SL73 mk2, which looks suitable for portability. But I am concerned about the quality of the audio interfaces...

I think it was discussed earlier in this thread that the audio driver will not be PC compliant but don’t quote me on that. Per audio quality, very few people have gotten their hands on this board yet so it will probably be a while still before we get reviews on that.

I recall there isn't so far, and for some reason they say one shouldn't use ASIO4all (which does help reduce the latency with certain soundcards here).
https://www.studiologic-music.com/support/articles/1820465/

Haha - so you bought the one they had in stock then....! It's back to 'Preorder Now' status.

Either these boards are in high demand, or rolling off the production line very slowly. I've been scouring YouTube every day to see if anyone has posted a review of it yet - so thanks for your mini review on here - and congratulations on your new MIDI controller.

I have a very old Studiologic SL990 Pro that has served me very well over the years, but I'm eager to upgrade to the new SL88 GT Mk2 controller. On paper, it looks like everything I'm looking for. Hopefully more reviews will surface in the coming days.

I currently use a GPP-3 USB triple pedal controller I bought years ago (I believe they have been discontinued now). I just wondered if the SL88 GT Mk2 comes with any sort of sustain pedal, and whether it is continuous (for half pedalling etc) or just a switch (on/off)?

I`ve been playing the SL88GT ( Mk2 ) for a week now and after some initial problems and getting used to it, I must say it plays like dream.
For me, most important is the feeling and touch : well, it is very responsive to dynamics, from pp to ff, it produces the velocity that I play.
The keys react very quickly and I can do repeated notes that were not possible on my ( old ) upright or Kurzweil PC3LE, which has the Fatar tp40L keybed.
I makes me feel I play a real piano, not a piano sound on a synth or keyboard. I use the Sl mainly for playing Pianoteq 8 and Cubase 14, no problems there.
It`s a good idea to download and install Numa Player, the free Studiologic app, which gives you some nice keyboard and strings sounds.
It also lets you install firmware updates ( there were three of them in a week ) when connected through usb c.
The default program is setup with four keyboard zones and midi channels, this produced double notes and sudden loud notes. So I made program with just one zone,
disabling the other three, and full range A0 to C8. This quite easy to do on the board itself but it`s a good idea to read the online manual.
There is no pedal in the package. My Roland DP10 works perfectly in the first pedal connection - switch -, and the second - switch/ continuous ( half pedal ).
The third connector can be used for a triple pedal unit.
White / black key balance can be adjusted, every single key can be adjusted, in fact there`s a million things that can be adjusted. I have not yet been able to
connect it to SL Edit, the also free editor app for SL controllers. I can`t yet comment on the audio interface as I plug the SL88 into a Motu M4 interface via midi din
into my pc with Pianoteq or Cubase. The default settings are good enough, I just set the velocity sensitivity to light The keybed is certainly not heavy, but slightly heavier
than the TP40L tah t I used. So far very satisfied.

I was a little bummed to see the first review here say that the buttons and knobs/joysticks felt cheap. Do you have the same impression as well?

Thanks for the detailed and informed review. I am especially intrigued byt the "all in one factor" . Less cables!!! I'll try and find a retailer to test it.

I guess one indeed has to get used to these type of knobs : not the typical pb and modwheels but a joystick, so you can set pb to left <> right and volume mod up <> down, or
vice versa. You can assign any cc to most of the knobs.
The other stick is left <> right without centre spring. The main encoder knob can be pressed, long-pressed, rotated, switched left, right, up and down.
I don`t think the knobs are fragile or flimsy but they look and feel a bit tiny. And one should be careful when taking the the instrument out on the road.
It's more like a studio thing. I must say once again that the combination of the SL88GT ( mk2 ) with Pianoteq 8 is a perfect marriage.

Good to know, thanks. This would be studio only for me so no worries there.

Yeah I'm not one for using those knobs anyway - I primarily would use it as a piano controller 99.99% of the time - so the fact they are small and out of the way doesn't really bother me. If I wanted to use pitch bend and mod wheel I would probably get a smaller synth type controller to sit on top for playing more synthy style patches.

Is the sound output for the controller-only version BOTH the slab headphone or line out AND the sound sources (iPad or computer)?

There is no audio input on the controller-only version. I like to play along with Drum Genius (iPad) and also YT videos. Would the controller-only version get audio through the 2-way MIDI 2?

Do you use the audio inputs of your Numa X GT? Because the controller-only version does not have those, just a single USB-C (which is also a drag for my old iPads with lightning, yet another dongle and I don't know if it will work...)